Thursday Water Cooler

It’s Thursday, folks and what better way to get the day started than pounding a few Red Bulls, surfing the web and reading this fine post I’ve spent countless minutes on? I’ve been jammin’ out to One Direction all morning and I feel pretty great – I think it’s always a good idea to play your favorite tunes in the morning, because you’ve got nothing but the day ahead of your before reality crushes your soul later sometime in the afternoon!

Maybe next time The crackdown and raids ensuing the Paris attacks have been ongoing, but authorities are still unsure whether they found or killed the supposed mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud:

The assault began before dawn Wednesday at a decrepit squat in a close suburb of Paris when scores of French police officers stormed a third-floor apartment in search of their elusive quarry: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian suspected of organizing last week’s deadly attacks in Paris by the Islamic State. To get through a reinforced door, the police had to set explosives, giving the people inside time to prepare. A furious firefight ensued, with the police unleashing 5,000 rounds over the next hour and employing snipers and grenades. A female suicide bomber exploded her vest, collapsing the floor. When it was all over, the police had swept eight people into custody and found at least two mangled bodies. Mr. Abaaoud had not been taken alive, the authorities said — and it was not clear whether one of the bodies was his. [NY Times]

As ridiculous as that sounds, it’s nowhere near the ridicule that is his photo being propped online with him cracking a smile in a car. He looks like the hippie guy who knits his own clothes from organic wool and sits in on your English lit class talking out of his ass about Bukowski or Vonnegut without knowing who those guys actually are.

This is what it’s come to Fears of an attack by a missing student has forced a Maryland college to close its doors early before Thanksgiving break:

Washington College in Maryland announced on Wednesday it would be closed through the Thanksgiving holiday while authorities continue searching for missing 19-year-old sophomore Jacob Marberger. Sheila Bair, president of the private school of about 1,450 students, said on the college’s website that the decision was based on continuing consultations with law enforcement. The college anticipates resuming classes on Monday, 30 November, and the college will reopen the day before. “Following the difficult events of the past few days, Washington College will be canceling classes this week and the week of Thanksgiving break,” Bair said. Local and federal authorities including the FBI are still searching for Marberger. [Guardian]

As little as two or three years ago, I think school authorities would have been more concerned about finding a body of the missing student, rather than jumping to the conclusion that he’s planning an attack with a handgun. I just have to shake my head that we’ve become so paranoid by shootings around the country and add in the Paris attacks and we’re giving in to fears that are largely unfounded, in my opinion. But we’ll see, the student seems like a case for suicide rather than a shooting, but what do I know?

Sad, but not reallyThe Soup, which has been on air for 24 years, is finally ending and it’s a little bit sad. I really enjoyed Joel McHale’s snark and their take on reality shows the past 10 years, but the last couple of years have been not so good. I think some writers moved on and the show got really, really mean. I’m all for mocking reality stars and celebrities, because it’s not like they don’t have $100 dollar bills to wipe away those tears. But the show really started to just make fun of people for being fat or ugly and the some of the jokes were just lame. So I’m not totally sad to see the show go, but I’ll pour one out for the legacy of chicken tettrazini.

Childhood dreams realized? Logan’s Run, my favorite science fiction movie as a child, has been in remake-limbo for the past 10 years, but now it seems writer/producer Simon Kinberg’s solution is to copy Marvel:

There is some thought about what the future films would be and where you could take Logan in future movies, but the focus is on ‘Make a great movie.’ It was ‘Let’s make one great movie that people fall in love with but be prepared that if they do, we could make future films and what would they look like and where would you go again with the character in the next film?’ [/Film]

Sure, I’d love to see Logan’s Run turn into a critically-adored and popular franchise, but at what cost? Do we sacrifice all the kooky and campy 70s aesthetic? Do they turn the amazing silver ice robot into some weird, CGI Fox NFL muscle robot (who, BTW, has his own Twitter account)? Are we going to lose the soul of the original movie to make sure we turn this into some sort of ‘message’ movie about climate change and our gluten-free diets? So is it worth it, 12-year-old Colin? Did you stop to think about the horrors that may be unleashed?

Your Daily Pump UpNow You See Me was a pretty fun and completely silly movie and it was good enough to warrant a sequel, which I’ll will pay money alone to see Daniel Radcliffe do some bad magic tricks.

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Colin
Remember that skit on SNL with Chris Farley as one of the valley girls and he's eating all those fries? I'm Chris and the fries are the internet. So lay off, I'm starving!

It’s also disturbing/disgusting to think of the USA basically training and equipping that group… notice the Humvee behind him? :/

MynameisBlarney

I heard that the US training and equipping them was not exactly true.
Gonna see if I can find a link.

Bling Nye

I hope so.

I’ve seen pictures though that show US gear in some, like BDU’s, boots, etc., and from what I’ve read, even if they weren’t supporting them directly, they were supporting “rebel” groups in the area, many of which have no joined up with ISIL/Daesh.

KillerTruffle

Yeah… I don’t think the US ever directly supported ISIS… it sounds like we supported the rebels fighting Assad, and ISIS just took all the stuff we gave them and splintered off on their own.

It appears this story originated on World Net Daily and infowars.
Not very well known for being accurate.

Bling Nye

Where’d the Humvee come from.

MynameisBlarney

It looks like UN markings on it. But after reading the two articles you linked it probably came from the US.

Bling Nye

It could be UN (formerly) by virtue of it being white, but that’s it. If you see a larger version of the pic, it has the ISIL/Daesh flag/logo on the back, and presumably the green stripe was added by them as well. Not sure, but I think UN vehicles are just plain white, with “UN” on the side/hood, nothing more.